We had our homeschool evaluations yesterday where each of our children meets with our homeschool evaluator. It always amazes me how each child is so different. They all choose different field trips that were their favorite and different favorite subjects. They also all have different goals and dreams that look like none of their siblings’ goals and dreams. They are all so very different, and they also have different struggles and weaknesses.
Different Personalities
Take a look at the members of your immediate family. My guess is that you’d say the same thing. Each of you is so different. There are millions of combinations of personalities and talents and passions that make us each different. What I love about God is that He works within those personalities.
When you look at different characters in the Bible, God dealt with them differently. He dealt with them according to their abilities, their talents, and even their weaknesses. I just finished reading the story of Gideon, and it always amazes me that God used Gideon. Gideon’s faith was so weak. He tests the angel of the Lord so many times. First, he tests the angel by telling him to stay until he brings back an offering. The angel of the Lord touches the food offering, and it incinerates. The angel disappears right after that. Then Gideon asks for two more confirmations and uses a fleece to do it.
God’s Instructions
It’s been three times the angel of the Lord has had to “prove” himself to Gideon. But what I really love about this story happens next.
That night the Lord said, “Get up! Go down into the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them!
Judges 7:9
God’s instructions are pretty clear to Gideon. He tells Gideon, “I’ve already given you the victory. Just go down and defeat the Midianite army.” But the next part is where it gets really good. Check out God’s next words to Gideon.
But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah. Listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged. Then you will be eager to attack.”
Judges 7:10,11
Gideon’s Weakness
Gideon’s weakness was his fear or his lack of faith. Because of that, God gives Gideon another option. He says to go down and attack, but if you’re still too afraid, take your servant and go listen to the enemy. Gideon does just that. He takes his servant to the edge of the Midianite camp, and there he hears a man describe his dream to another soldier.
Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, “I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!”
His companion answered, “Your dream can mean only one thing—God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and all its allies!”
Judges 7: 13,14
A Warrior Leader
Gideon hears those words and knows God has surely given them the victory. He heads back to his camp and gives orders to his men. God fights an incredible battle for them, and Gideon gets the credit for it. Gideon seems to be the least heroic person around, and yet God chooses to use him. Something changes in Gideon after this battle, because he becomes a true warrior leader. After this battle, they chase down their enemies and kill them all.
Along the way, he and his men are too tired and hungry to keep going. He asks one of the towns they pass if they will spare them food and water. They say no, and Gideon curses them.
When they reached Succoth, Gideon asked the leaders of the town, “Please give my warriors some food. They are very tired. I am chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
But the officials of Succoth replied, “Catch Zebah and Zalmunna first, and then we will feed your army.”
So Gideon said, “After the Lord gives me victory over Zebah and Zalmunna, I will return and tear your flesh with the thorns and briers from the wilderness.”
Judges 8:5-7
The man who was too afraid to go to battle now tells one town and then another who gives him the same reaction that he will tear their flesh. He became the mighty warrior that God saw in him.
Two Takeaways
Don’t see people for how they are now. See them for who they can become.
When the angel of the Lord first encounters Gideon, who is currently hiding from the Midianites, he calls him a mighty warrior. At that point, Gideon was not a mighty warrior. But God saw him for what he could become and called that out in him.
Call out greatness in others. Find what others miss. See the potential in everybody. Ask God for a vision of what that person could be and encourage them in that.
Remember that God works in spite of our limitations and weaknesses.
God knows you have weaknesses and fears, and He’s okay with that. He can work in spite of those things. Just don’t let them keep you back from what He has in store. He knew Gideon was fearful, but God still used him. God knew Gideon’s faith was weak, but He still used him. He gave chance and opportunity for Gideon’s faith to grow and didn’t give up on Him.
Choose to let God use you, weaknesses and all. We won’t always get it right, but if we stay faithful and allow God to change us and shape us, He will be able to use us.
More Encouragement
For more encouragement on this topic, check out my post, Looking Past What is to What Could Be.